This invention relates to a medical rail system, and more particularly to a medical gas rail system having a single, symmetrical medical gas rail for conducting fluid flow such as oxygen, air, vacuum, nitrogen or nitrous oxide or for providing a vacuum which may be mounted in four different positions or rotatably mounted in at least four positions and in which medical equipment may be removably mounted thereon in all four positions.
Medical facilities such as hospital emergency rooms, hospital operating rooms, doctor's examination rooms as well as patient care rooms normally require a plethora of medical equipment, apparatus and devices and various gas outlets for supplying access to fluid flow such as air, oxygen, nitrogen, nitrous oxide or a vacuum. Fluid flow is usually provided by individual outlets providing limited access as well as inflexibility of the system. In planning the provision for such outlets in the various medical rooms involved, it is difficult because of the ever-changing nature of medical equipment and the change in treatment required. Accordingly, medical facilities normally require modification and updating to accommodate upgraded or new medical diagnostic equipment and apparatus. Accordingly, if the medical facility is not planned properly, the outlets, for example, for furnishing fluid flow in the form of a vacuum may not be properly placed thereby requiring long lengths of hose which may get in the way of people performing medical examinations, operations or in caring for the patients. Changing piping or conduits in the walls and ceilings of the rooms involved is simply not feasible nor cost effective.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,498,693 and 4,420,768, which are assigned to the Assignee of the present invention a multiple gas rail system and an electrical medical rail system, respectively, are shown which provide flexibility in outfitting and changing medical facilities by providing rail systems through which fluids flow and electrical conduits are provided.
The present invention is directed to providing the systems of the aforesaid patents with additional flexibility for providing a single medical gas rail which is symmetrical and may be mounted in several fixed positions by a rotatable mounting or a single fixed mounting.